Govt to deliver on schools, NDIS in budget

The federal government will deliver on its schools and disability reforms and outline how they'll be paid for in the May budget, Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury says.

The government is resolved to bring in its big ticket policies, Mr Bradbury says.

"These are reforms that as a Labor government we are determined to not only roll out plans for, but to entrench for the future of the economy," Mr Bradbury told Network Ten on Sunday.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan will deliver his sixth - and according to opinion poll predictions - final budget on May 14 ahead of September's election.

Several reports released last week highlighted the weakened state of the budget, both for now and in the future.

There is speculation the treasurer will reveal deficits for each of the four-year estimates in the budget.

In the treasurer's weekly economic note, Mr Swan said the government would not follow a path of austerity at the expense of jobs to achieve a budget surplus, while he also highlighted the importance of investing in schools and providing funding for the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS).

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Mr Bradbury said it would be critical to have a "very detailed" plan in the budget to pay for schools and the disability scheme.

The government's schools funding plan would cost the commonwealth more than $9 billion for six years from 2014, while the Productivity Commission estimated the NDIS would cost $15 billion a year when fully operational from 2018.

"If we don't, then obviously, the longevity of those reforms will be under question," Mr Bradbury said.

"So we need to make sure that we have a very strong set of figures behind how we will fund it, and that's what we're determined to do."

Circumstances have changed since the global financial crisis which meant few extra spending gifts for the electorate, Mr Bradbury said.

"Look, the time for giveaways has well and truly passed," he said.

In this environment of fiscal restraint, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Mr Swan will give speeches this week outlining the challenges the government had in preparing the budget on May 14.

Ms Gillard will deliver a speech to the Per Capita think tank in Canberra on Monday, while Mr Swan will give a pre-budget speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Bank of America-Merril Lynch Australia chief economist Saul Eslake said the government should introduce an insurance premium similar to the Medicare Levy to pay for its disability reforms.

"I don't know how you can have an insurance scheme without an insurance premium and the public would probably accept some kind of explicit Medicare style levy in order to pay for it," Mr Eslake told Sky TV.